Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 25 /Trend S.Isayev, D. Khatinoglu/
Iran's oil ministry has denied the reports that it's subsidiary National Iranian Oil Company is being controlled by the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guards Council), Mehr reported.
Oil Ministry spokesman Ali Reza Nikzad spoke to Mehr news agency, and said that the reports were completely false, as the NIOC works under the Government's wing.
The United States government yesterday officially linked Iran's state oil company to the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a determination that enables Washington to apply new sanctions on foreign banks dealing with the company.
The Treasury Department determined that the National Iranian Oil Company, one of the world's largest oil exporters, is "an agent or affiliate" of the IRGC, which the US has long put under sanctions for terrorism and human rights abuses.
The US Congress directed Treasury to determine whether Iran's oil and tanker companies were linked to the IRGC as part of a new package of sanctions signed into law last month.
The United States and the EU are restricting purchases of Iranian oil because they suspect Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is strictly for civilian purposes.